Richard Franklin Thomas

Passed away on July 16, 2019 in Santa Clara CA.

Richard is survived by Sister Elaine, Twins Daughter Dana and Son Scott, Granddaughters Alexandra and Samantha, Daughter in-law Dawn and ex-Daughter in-law Jill, Nieces Lynne and Heather, and Nephew Jon, and long-time friend Eva.

Richard was a loving and dear brother to Sister Elaine. They grew up together in Artesia California. He worked on dairy farms and in supermarkets, enjoyed cars, and played football at Excelsior High School.

At the age of 17 he joined the US Army and spent several years as part of multinational peace keeping force in Trieste Italy. While in Europe he enjoyed mountaineering and climbed the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

He attended Long Beach City college where he excelled in sports and was awarded a football scholarship to San Jose State University. He was an offensive linemen and played with future NFL coach Bill Walsh of the 49ers.

At San Jose State he met his future wife Mary Margaret Cobb who was a nursing student. They were married for 31 years and raised their twins, Dana and Scott.

He lived most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area, living in San Jose’s Almaden Valley and Menlo Park.

He had a love for the outdoors and adventure, taking his family on backpacking adventures to the Sierra Nevada mountains and to British Columbia Canada. He had a special fondness for Lake Ediza in the Mammoth lakes area.

He took his family on long road trips, dodging mosquitos and grizzly bears in Canada and fishing for crawdads in Arkansas while listening to Roger Millers King of the Road and many big band classics.

Many family vacations also included skiing, gliding (soaring), and travel via small aircraft (we can still hear Dad yelling ‘Clear Prop!’ to give warning and make sure it was safe to start the aircraft engine). He was an accomplished pilot.

He enjoyed barbequing, making and drinking good wine, and creating scavenger hunts and designing/building toys for his children. He cultivated many varieties of fruit and nut trees, grape vines and vegetables at his San Jose home.

He enjoyed motor boat racing and participated in cracker box class racing all over California, earning many large trophies.

In midlife he developed an interest in motorcycles, purchasing the first of several Honda street sport motorcycles, and sharing his appreciation of motorcycles with his children.

He was a handyman, skilled craftsman, and machinist at heart, and rarely needed to call a repairman or mechanic to fix anything. He enjoyed designing, planning and performing many home improvement projects with a perfectionist approach and attitude.

He worked as a peace officer for San Jose Police Department for 30 years, spending many of his years there as an Investigator in the Forgery and Fraud Division. As an investigator he rose to the rank of Sergeant. In later years he flew aircraft for the department performing various police duties.

He loved aviation from a young age. As a boy he liked flying magazines, built aircraft models from raw materials, and he insisted that his father buy Wing brand cigarettes so that he could get the aircraft artwork that was on the packaging.

He was a founding member of the Bay Area Soaring Association (BASA). BASA’s magazine called West Wind had an edition dedicated to the starting of the club. The magazines first article began with a description of the first meeting of the potential members/investors in a meeting room above a restaurant where Richard was instrumental in launching the club.

He was a member of the Seagull Flying Club based at San Jose Mineta International Airport where he flew powered aircraft for over 40 years. He piloted small aircraft until the age of 80.

He flew for Doctors Without Borders for many years. He would fly doctors and medical staff to areas of Mexico in need of Medical care.

He volunteered as a Docent at the Hiller Aviation Museum at San Carlos Airport and participated in flying events organized to create interest in aviation where he would take kids for short flights to encourage young people to become aviators.

He was a life-time member of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) which is a world wide organization of pilots, home aircraft builders and enthusiasts dedicated to education and growth of aviation.

In later years he travelled much of the world, visiting close to 100 different countries with his loving companion and partner Eva.

He was a longtime San Francisco 49ers fan and enjoyed tailgating and going to games. He held season tickets for almost 40 years.

His favorite restaurant was Original Joe’s in Downtown San Jose. His favorite meal was a steak, cooked cold in the center and a dirty gin martini with 2 green olives. He was a regular there since the 1950’s, where he would eat lunch while on break from patrol. Joe’s was always a favorite destination for family dinners with him.

He was especially proud and loving of his granddaughters Ali and Sammi. His face would always light up when seeing them or hearing of their adventures and accomplishments.

The family of Richard would like to extend a special thank you to his caretakers Shawna and Jessica. He greatly enjoyed their care and friendship. We would also like to thank the many caring people at Pacific Gardens who provided wonderful loving care.

You will always be loved and missed Dad.

An open service will be conducted on July 24, 2021 at 1 PM, at Fairhaven Memorial Services, 27856 Center Drive, Mission Viejo CA. Please contact Scott Thomas at [email protected] to share any memories and be provided a zoom link to view the service remotely.